


The Taski Way

by Ren (mizdarknezz3)



Series: Elena Taski's Stories [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Violence, Child Abuse, Child Soliders, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Minor Character Death, Other, Parent/Child Incest, Past Child Abuse, Past Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Scars, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Suicidal Thoughts, Swords, The bad stuff all comes later or happened before the story started, Torture, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:34:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26513014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizdarknezz3/pseuds/Ren
Summary: Elena Taski is one of the youngest members of the Fire Nation Army, and she has been assigned to capture the Avatar. She works with former Prince Zuko in order to try and accomplish this task, but things go awry and along the way she finds herself questioning her morals and her loyalties. This is her journey.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/OC, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Zuko/Oc, sokka/zuko/oc
Series: Elena Taski's Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927720
Kudos: 2





	The Taski Way

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is one of my first works for atla that I've been working on writing and re-writing for the last few years. It does contain a lot of triggering subjects so I would defiantly check the tags to stay safe, although most of that won't become relevant until much later in the story as the story dives deeper into Elena's past. If you see something else I need to tag please let me know. I do not have an update schedule and write very sporadically. I hope you enjoy!

“Commander Taski, another ship has been spotted!” Lee Sung shouted, and I twisted around to face the direction that his finger was pointing. It wasn’t very often that we came across another ship. I had purposefully taken our ship out of the regular paths so the crew could relax. After all, it is completely exhausting to fake doing the best work you possibly can, and getting the Fire Lord of all people to believe it. 

The ship was a familiar one at least, one that filled my mind with mixed emotions though. The ship belonged to Prince Zuko, the only other teenager I get to see on a semi-regular basis. We both were sixteen, although I was considered older since I set my birthday on the first day of the new year. I was already a commander in the military, the youngest in Fire Nation history so far. Yet, it wasn’t actually perceived as an accomplishment, my family had been setting the record lower and lower each year now, if I hadn’t done it, then I would be a disappointment. 

However, none of that mattered at the moment. I had to prepare for the Prince’s arrival on to my ship. Before I could even give the order to my crew they were already in motion, most with a dumb grin on their face or halfheartedly complaining quietly. I was born on this ship, and this crew was the same crew my parents had before me. When my parents were killed I still worked on the ship, and the crew respected me, they were truly more than crew, they were the only family I had left, which made it so they knew what to do to prepare. It was one of the reasons that none of them had been transferred to a different command, and none had requested so either. 

Eventually the Prince’s ship and mine were side by side, and the Prince strode on board, with the normal scowl on his face. He had long black hair that was kept in a single ponytail leaving the rest of his pale head bare. His skin was the same as most people of the Fire Nation, I was slightly tanner from spending most of my life in the sun. He also had the traditional amber eyes that screamed Fire Nation. Through his armor it was clear he had muscle despite his lean frame. The most noticeable part of his physical appearance though was the large scar that across his left eye*. The mark was a cruel reminder to all that he was not just the Prince of the Fire Nation, but the banished Prince of the Fire Nation. He was given the scar by his own father, who banished him from his home at thirteen, with his only hope at being allowed home was capturing the Avatar, a feat I must mention, was thought impossible until about a month ago. 

With all of these problems weighing down on him he often did not get the respect that he deserved, so I took special care every time he came on to my ship to treat him as the Prince he is. The only problem is, although I’m pretty sure that he likes that I do it, it is hard to tell since he still treats me like a sack of dirt. His Uncle is kind to me though, and will sometimes translate through his nephews grumpiness. According to him the Prince does appreciate my efforts and is normally in a better mood after a visit, which is why I still do it.

“Commander Taski, my Uncle and I want to have a meeting with you,” The Prince spoke as I lifted from my bow. With a respectful nod I lead the two to a private, but professional room with a table and chairs. I hadn’t had a meeting on board for awhile, so the room was a little dusty. Once in the room I asked a member of my crew to fetch some tea, and after it had arrived he shut the door so the meeting could be private. I sat on one side of the table and the other two sat across from me. Silence took over the room. The Prince examined the room with a look of distaste. Iroh was content it seemed since he couldn’t stop smiling while sipping his tea, I had asked my crew member to get his favorite after all. As the Prince looked around it gave me an opportunity to see him closer without him noticing. There were bruises there that hadn’t been there five months ago. Every moment he seemed to be growing more agitated, which I assumed meant he had to say something that he didn’t want to. The main thing he would not want to say to me was a request for help, something he did not do often, but if he were to ask anyone, it would be me. 

“It has been a long time since we’ve seen you Elena, how have you been?” Iroh asked me, a long time ago we had all agreed to go on a first name basis in private, except the Prince, who always had to have his name prefaced with Prince.

“It’s been pretty quiet, aside from a check in from Zhao. The main actions I am doing now are avoiding Zhao, and waiting for new orders,” I responded. It was not a lie, I just left out the fact that I was avoiding my current order, since if I talked about it at all it would be easy to guess what it was.

“I see, he has been bothering us as well,” Iroh lost some of his smile with that.

“We need your help,” the Prince blurted out, his face slightly red. He never seemed to enjoy small talk.

“I am here to serve you my Prince,” while I knew I did not sound as enthusiastic as I should have, most of my efforts were put in trying to not sound like the phrase was teasing. If he had been part of my crew and acted the way he did he would be teased mercilessly, since he gets flustered so easily.

“The Avatar has been spotted in the forest nearby, he will not be able to escape if we have enough soldiers to surround them,” Prince Zuko explained further, I personally didn’t agree, but it was not my place to say. 

“Lead the way and I shall follow my Prince,” was my simple response, and that is exactly what happened. After he and his Uncle left I gave the order to my crew to follow the Prince’s ship. After an hour of smooth uneventful sailing we reached land and began settling there. Once I made sure everything was being set in the proper order I went over to the Prince and his Uncle. Their conversation ended as soon as I arrived as both turned their attention to me.

“My Uncle and I are going to sneak into their base and scope out the area.”

‘Prince Zuko, I am an old man and much too slow if we were to get caught. Why don’t you bring Commander Taski with you instead?” Prince Zuko frowned at his Uncle, but agreed without complaint nevertheless. To my surprise, after the Prince turned around Iroh winked at me. He had the same look in his eye as my crew did whenever the Prince came, to which I never could figure out the exact meaning behind. I smiled back though in thanks, since I did want to scope out the area instead of just waiting around.

Sneaking through the forest with the Prince was not nearly as exciting as I had imagined. He was bossier than ever, and he did not have to loud to do it. If any sound came from the woods at all, whether it was an animal noise or the wind blowing, he would turn and glare at me, as if it was my fault. He would also just randomly stop with no warning after sprinting for awhile, and then start again with no explanation. It was after almost running into him for the fifth time that I finally noticed something myself. A dim fire illuminated a small makeshift camp with adolescents, seeming to be a few years younger than the Prince and I, laying on blankets fast asleep. My attention was immediately caught by the smallest one, a boy with blue arrow tattoos. They were the mark of airbenders, the exact meaning lost on me, but it didn’t matter. What did matter however, was the fact that the only airbender left in the world was the Avatar.

“I’ll grab the Avatar, you hold off the others,” the Prince ordered with a small whisper and started to sneak away before I could protest. We were only supposed to be scouting! I had no idea of the abilities and skills of the Avatars companions, and the Prince, if he was still near, wouldn’t have even let me ask questions. With a grace that he did not look like he should have the Prince snuck quietly through the camp and covered the Avatar’s mouth with his hand while lifting up the rest of his body. Unfortunately the Avatar woke up, and screamed, which was muffled by a hand, was still loud enough to wake the rest the group.

“Aang!” It was a feminine voice that screamed the cry, and in a blink of an eye Prince Zuko was on the ground completely soaked. Quickly I let fire burn in my hand and flung it at the Avatar’s companions, successfully drawing their attention to me. The two looked to be siblings, one male, and one female. From their clothes and skin they must have been from the water tribe, and at least one of them was a waterbender. Most likely it was the female since the male was brandishing a weapon instead. Either way, being part of the military since birth, as well as always travelling, had taught me the very important lesson that weapon masters were just as dangerous as any bender. I continued to throw fire at both of them to try and keep them distracted while the Prince struggled with Aang.

“Sokka, help Aang!” The female ordered and I simply blocked his path with a wall of flame. It didn’t take me long to realize that these two were very inexperienced with fighting, but their raw power was still dangerous. Sokka, the male, was trying to find a way to the Avatar still, and it forced me to put more attention on him then his sister.

“Both of you are  _ my _ opponents tonight,” the threat seemed to help focus their attention back onto me, or it could have been the fact that the last flame I had threw had come dangerously near Sokka’s face, but the miss was on purpose. Although they didn’t know that, and hopefully the Prince didn’t either. Despite their inexperience the two worked well together, it was unfortunate for them that I had spent my entire life training and fighting. Sokka came charging at me after his sister fell after a particularly close flame, and I ducked down and kicked him square in the gut. He crumpled to the ground holding his stomach, and I picked up his strange weapon and threw it away. Part of me wanted to keep it to study, it was rare to see a new weapon, and advantage if I could learn how to use it. Now was not the time for that however.

“I must warn you, this will hurt a little, but it will keep you from further harm in this fight,” I mumbled this under my breath before I knocked him unconscious. There was no reason to cause great harm, this was just a capture mission, the less the misguided kids were injured, the better. As I went to stand back up, I was hit with a blast of hot water. As expected, his sister was not happy with me. The blast was hard enough to knock me back into a tree, but I still had enough time to move out the way of the next blast. That didn't change the fact that she had been close, too close for any sort of comfort. My vision was slightly compromised from the head pain, which caused my next attack to be even further off than intended. In her extra time she took some of the water puddled near me and formed them to be ice handcuffs. 

“What did you do to him?” Her voice was higher than before and she was speaking with her body, which some water was following. She would be a force to be reckoned with if she got more training. 

“He is merely sleeping. When he awakens there will be some head pain, but other than that he will be fine,” I responded calmly while taking a moment to discreetly examine my surroundings. Prince Zuko and the Avatar were nowhere in my sights, which lead me to hope the mission had succeeded. I could easily melt the cuffs around my wrists, but I decided to wait until my head pain subsided. Perhaps I could also gather additional information this way.

“Why would you do that?” Her eyes narrowed as she spoke and she was directly looking into my eyes, searching for lies.

“To take him out of the fight,” I answered never looking away from her as I spoke. Her eyebrows immediately furrowed and she took a step towards me.

“And why did you do that!” Her shout was less a question and more just a release of stress, something the girl seemed to have a lot of. This was good though, as she was completely distracted, and not looking for the Avatar.

“I am not a monster, just a soldier following orders, and my orders weren’t to kill.” It was a simple answer, and a simple truth. I didn’t enjoy hurting people, I wasn’t even neutral towards the act. I completely dislike the action, but this is my job, what I was born to do, and I would do it to the best of my abilities. My truth however, caused her to snort and turn away in disgust.

“That’s a joke right?  _ You _ are a  _ monster _ ! You fight for destruction and power. You follow a Prince who spends all of his time hunting down a kid,” She was getting more animated, some of the water from her waving, accusing arms cut into my face.

“You understand nothing about us,” She seemed taken aback by the emotion in my voice. Part of my mind was scolding me for revealing any emotion to an enemy, but it was a distraction tactic. This girl was obviously passionate, and that normally meant they would be argumentative. An argument would give me more time to rest, and when emotions are high people are more likely to reveal information unintentionally. “People of the Fire Nation, who I assume you are referring to, are not monsters. They are people just like people of any other nation, and the Prince isn’t tracking down any normal child. He is tracking down the Avatar, the only person in the world who can bend all four elements, and the person he needs.” The last part was unnecessary but it was too late to take back, besides, it seemed to have grabbed her attention. 

“What do you mean the he needs Aang?” So that was the Avatar’s name, good information to take note of. 

“What is your name?” I questioned back, a plan formed in my head on what to do. She took a moment to answer, as if I could somehow have power over her with just a name.

“My name is Katara, but what does that have to do with Zuko?” I cringed in my mind at the lack of the word Prince.

“Did you choose to leave your home to travel with the Avatar?” She nodded slowly. “Prince Zuko did not. He was forced by his father, who banished him for arguing against sacrificing an entire platoon, and refusing to fight his father to the death. The scar on his face was given to him by his father. The only way he can return home is by capturing the Avatar and taking him to the Fire Nation, which he has been trying to do for the past three years.” All of this was common knowledge in the Fire Nation, it wouldn’t hurt him to give them this common knowledge. 

“So what are you doing?” She asked me as if I had some sort of alternative motive for my actions. It took me a moment to find an answer that would satisfy her, and keep the conversation going. I would give the Prince as much time as he needed.

“I would like to provide the Prince something I can never have,” was what I finally came up with. It worked and her interest was peaked again.

“What do you mean?” 

“My parents were killed when I was young, I wish to help him get back to his.” Somehow, my answer made things go awry. She refused to look at me after that reveal, which caused her to realize that Aang and the Prince were gone. While she was distracted by that I melted my cuffs and ran into the forest. Her voice echoed through the forest but I ignored it as I tried to figure out the direction to get back to shore. If I kept going in the direct opposite direction I had been standing in I should be going the right way. The only reason I stopped running was because I had to dodge a fireball that was aimed at my head. Coming towards me were four men in Fire Nation uniforms that I did not recognize. Once they were in full view they stopped coming towards me.

“I am Commander Taski, lead me back to the nearest Fire Nation base,” I ordered, since it would be easier to find the shore if I had a map. If the Prince had shown me the route in the first place none of this would have been a problem, but I tucked that bitter thought into the back of my head and focused on the situation in front of me. None of the men made a move, two were smiling in a way that made my skin crawl and the others were just glaring.

“If you're commander Taski then I am Fire Lord Ozai, come here little girl!” One of the smiling ones laughed and they all charged. Frustrated and insulted, I had no qualms about being rougher with them. They were grown adults choosing to attack me with violence after all. They were most likely bandits, or traitorous Fire Nation soldiers, both crimes that I couldn’t stand. They were part of the reason all the other nations hate the Fire Nation so much. I defended for the beginning of the fight to get an idea of exactly what I was up against. With their skill sets only one of them was a traitor, as he was a firebender. The other man who had smiled fought with a sword. The two serious men were the ones staying further in back, with one being an earthbender and the other firing a bow at me. I couldn’t decide if it would be worth it to arrest them or leave the in the forest injured, but they made the decision for me. The earthbender was causing the most problems for me as he made it so the ground under wasn’t stable so I went after him first. It only took five close fireballs to get him to charge at me. Regretfully his companion had not been paying as good of attention and an arrow that was heading for my head went into the earthbenders throat. The sight was disturbing, but there was nothing I could do for him so I moved on.

In a rage the sword fighter came at me. I fought him with blue fire surrounding my fists so every hit I landed burned. I only had been cut with the sword twice before I forced him to drop it and used the hilt to knock him out. The firebender would be the easiest to take down, I had trained against some of the best firebenders in the land and he was nothing compared to them. In fact, he was reckless, and ended up lighting a tree on fire, which I put out with my own bending. That sent the firebender into a further rage so when I went to take out the archer I was too late since his buddy had hit him with a fireball, setting the man on fire, which I quickly put out and knocked him out. Even in the dim light I could see the severe burns the archer had sustained. With little sympathy I cornered the firebender and knocked him out with a swift kick to head. The coward had kneeled when I came towards him begging me to let him live. I left them all and began to run again. 

Running through the forest in the dark, alone, and wounded was not something that I was very experienced in. It had only happened two other times and the last time had been almost four years ago. I had been born and raised on a boat, and unless ordered to, I stayed on one. My hope is that I will continue the cycle of my family and die on a boat in battle. Since it felt like I should have arrived back the shore awhile ago I tried to use the logic from the sea to find my way, which I did not have any luck with. Forests were a very different challenge than fog, or avoiding giant landmasses. There was nothing to mark where I was at since everything just looked the same, tall trees with large branches sticking out of the ground.

“Am I even going the right way?” I eventually asked myself stopping to catch my breath and collect my thoughts. I was answered with a walnut falling on top of my head, which just pointed out that I was completely alone. I began running again and scolded myself in my head for thinking about my crew and the Prince being relieved to see me again. When I came back all I should expect was scolding for being so stupid to get lost in the forest. 

I wasn’t exactly sure how long it had been since I discovered that I was lost, but the sun was up and I had decided to stop my wounds from bleeding by burning them closed. It was soon after that however that I saw shore. I couldn’t help but to breathe a mental sigh of relief that both ships were still there. I quit running and began walking onto the sand. The unblocked sun showed how dirty I was, but it didn’t really matter. I was exhausted, hungry, and extremely thirsty. Not to mention that running all night and fighting had my eyes drooping closed much more often than needed. 

Once one member of my crew saw me I was being swarmed by all of them. They were extremely worried if the light hearted scoldings and exclamations were any sign. Lee’s tight hug hurt but I didn’t say anything, just enjoyed the feeling. He quickly let go and apologized for being so embarrassing in front of the Prince, which brought my mind back to the mission. With the risks taken I sincerely hoped that the Prince had successfully captured the Avatar. I stood tall and my crew noticed my change and stood as soldiers should around their commander. 

“Where is the Avatar?” My voice was rough from being so dry, but if anything it made it sound more commanding. Most of them looked unsure for a moment, before Lee lead me to the boy silently. He was in the prisoner room on my ship, in chains and a restless sleep. Only Prince Zuko and his Uncle were in there and once I entered Lee left to give us privacy.

“What took you so long?” Prince Zuko asked me, less annoyance in his voice than I expected. He kept his back to me, while Iroh turned to face me. He seemed to be taken aback by my appearance with his widened eyes and step forward. I knew I didn’t look good but part of me wondered how bad it was for everyone to have become this worried.

“The waterbender turned me around so I went in the wrong direction for a while after I had seen that the mission was complete,” I was very annoyed when I had figured that out. “Bandits were in the forest as well and attacked, but it doesn’t matter.” Sadly, since I had been so lost even if I knew their location and sent my crew to find them two of them will still be dead and the other two gone. “What does matter is that the Avatar is secure,” Iroh’s eye twitched in annoyance while he turned to the Prince’s direction once again.

“You two were not supposed to capture the Avatar on your own, just scope out the area. That is the entire reason we asked you for help,” Iroh pointed out, glaring at his nephew even though he was addressing me more directly. From the way he was acting I couldn’t help but to suspect that he was using my story to support his side in an argument that had taken place before I arrived. This would not be the first time. Despite the subtle provocation Prince Zuko did not retaliate. He just stood with his back arched with pride, facing the Avatar with no doubt a scowl that he was using to hide a smile. That or he was annoyed that the Avatar wasn’t awake. Most likely he had not been worried about me at all like the others. He must of not had a doubt in his mind that I would come back safe and victorious. I left for bed with a small smile.

* * *

As always, I awoke in a cold sweat and quick breaths coming in and out. After composing myself and eating a small breakfast I returned to the Avatar’s room. The young boy was awake now, and he didn’t bother to hide his terror until I walked in. He was clearly a beginner at acting as his smile was clearly fake.

“Hello Aang, I think it was, I’m sorry for the unpleasant conditions but we really cannot have you escaping,” and I honestly was sorry. He was a mere boy locked in chains hanging, I knew how uncomfortable those chains were from my training. My parents made sure I would be prepared for every part of an interrogation, and multiple times hung me from those very chains.

“What are you going to do with me?” Perhaps I misjudged his acting skills before, while he asked the question his voice was light, and the smile seemed to reach his eyes now.

“The Prince and I are taking you to the Fire Nation to present you to the Fire Lord. Once this is done his banishment will be over, and I will go back to following whatever the Fire Lord orders me. I do not know what will happen to you during this time,” I explained easily.

“Are you going to hurt me?” He sounded so innocent, and I couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of empathy. Empathy had always been a terrible weakness of mine, but I could overcome it.

“I will not give orders to hurt you, but I am not in control of the Prince nor will I go against him. I certainly will not go against the Fire Lord either.” For some reason my answer seemed to make him happy, at least until the door slammed open.

“Avatar!” Prince Zuko’s hestence to step into the room after seeing me was a bit amusing, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was from disgust at the new bandages I had. No matter the reason he composed himself quietly and quickly. Refusing to acknowledge me further he turned completely to the Avatar. 

“That’s me,” Aang responded, his sarcastic comment caused the Prince and I to frown. After a moment of ranting about finally capturing the Avatar (who hung there very patiently and listened) the Prince began to walk out and I followed up to the deck. He went to look at the land, I went to stare at the endless sea. Laying down on the warm metal I began to visual attack formations to counter the Avatar’s friends. If they were as loyal as they seemed, and if they had any sense, they would attack during the night. I had to be better prepared to get rid of them.

“Commander Taski, two travelers are requesting aid!” There was a chance that they were not that smart.

“Let me see them, stay on guard too. Any moment now we could be attacked by a master sword and water bender,” I had no idea what the weapon the boy was using was called but it was better for the crew to be over prepared than over confident. “Once we’re attacked aim to subdue, not permanently damage or kill,” I made sure to emphasize that last part before following Jenkins and Brenar to the two. To my pleasant surprise it was not the Avatar’s friends but two young boys. They must of been desperate, because they didn’t seem Fire Nation and no other nation worked with us.

“What do you two need?” I asked as friendly as I could, but I kept my guard up. Children make dangerous spies. My brain couldn’t come up with a good reason for the boys to turn to a Fire Nation ship for anything that wasn’t trickery or life and death. There was no way to prove it though until they explained.

“Our daddy is sick, no one in the village can do anything, please help cure him!” There were visible tear tracks on their faces, and they were dirty enough for me to believe that they had been taking care of themselves for awhile, as well as their dad. Along with traveling around. Nothing seemed off with their story, and I wasn’t a cruel monster.

“Two of you go grab medical supplies and figure out how to help these two’s father. Return before sun rise tomorrow,” I yelled out my orders to the joy of the two small boys and yes mama’s echoed around the ship. The smile the two boys gave were worth the risk of less men, hopefully a life would be saved tonight. On the other side, hopefully a prisoner would stay captured tonight.

The rest of the daylight passed without incident, and night slowly settled in bringing with it the beautiful stars and moon that reflected in the sea. I always loved the combination of night and sea. The sundown to this particular night had been amazing, the way the orange and purple had blended together. Soon after sundown the two men who had left returned with smiles on their faces. Their report only brightened my mood. By tomorrow, we would be able to begin sailing. I couldn’t help but wonder if Prince Zuko would stay on his ship or on mine, in order to be closer to the Avatar, of course. In the end it didn’t matter, but I would like it if he stayed on mine, perhaps then he would stop being so detached from me. If he didn’t at least I could spend more time with Iroh. The idea of getting to spend time with friends made my heart beat a bit faster. 

All of these distracting feelings were ruined when something slammed into the back of my head. I fell to the deck from the blow and when I tried to stand my vision swam causing me to fall again. I cursed myself for letting my mind be clouded by good feelings. A foot landed in my line of sight and I blinked up to see Sokka, the boy, standing before me. He must of assumed that I had been knocked out because he paid me no mind. Part of me considered fighting him right then, but that wouldn’t alert the rest of the crew that the enemy was here. With a snarl I shouted “Attacker!” As loud as I could. It was effective, Sokka whipped around and the sound of running feet came. My head was pounding, and the yelling had made it worse. He tried to hit me with his strange weapon but I managed to roll out the way. The pain left me uncoordinated and dizzy as I tried to stand, using the railing as support. I wished that I had been wearing my helmet, he may have given me a concussion. At the very least he gave me a nasty migraine. He seemed to notice my predicament but yet he still stood there. His choices were clear as my crew came closer, leave empty handed unwounded, kill me and suffer the consequences, or try and use me as leverage, and that too would have consequences. As my crew closed in he stepped behind me, and I let him, curious of his actions and hoping that I was buying time for the Prince to come and guard the Avatar. He was so close to getting back home.

“Stop! Tell me where you’re holding the Avatar,” he commanded holding the boomerang over my head. The boy had decided to use me as leverage, and for that the consequences would follow. A blast of blue flame sent him into my crew who grabbed him, but as they did he threw his strange weapon. I was not falling for that again and moved out the way with a confident smirk. I looked over to see Prince Zuko and Iroh had not arrived yet, neither had their crew. 

“Where’s your sister boy?” I asked, speaking causing nausea to fill my urges. A blast of water throwing me off the ship was the answer. I landed on the water back first, then my head. The shock caused me to gasp in water and I began to choke. My head was like an alarm but instead of sound it was sharp pain causing black to dot my vision. My feet were kicking wildly and eventually I broke through and coughed up the water filling my lungs. The battle on the ship wasn’t very visible but from what I could see it wasn't going well for my side. Once I was sure I was not going to pass out in the sea I swam as fast as I was able to get back onto the ship. I ran, which was a miracle in itself I could do so without vomiting, searching for the Avatar. When I didn’t see him I ran to his room and went to open the door only to have it blasted into me. All the air was knocked out of my body, and to make matters more insulting the Avatar actually came to check on me afterwards. I tried to grab him but my grip was weak, and he pulled out of it easily. Some of my crew came rushing down but were air blasted out the way. Lee made it past the Avatar and to me.

“Are you alright?” I knew he cared, and it was nice, but I was angry. I wanted to help the Prince go and I was failing that mission.

“I’d rather die than let the Avatar escape, stop worrying over me and get that boy back in chains, and make sure he stays there!” Lee nodded and yelled the determined message. I tried to get up, but fell immediately. Instead with a slow crawl I made it back up the stairs to the deck only to stop at the sight of a water monster. With the little energy I had left I sent a blast of flame at it. The thing ignored my pitiful attempt. Katara however did not, and she came over to me and whipped me with water. It stung, I’d had worse. With a strong hit on my back though I was on the ground and I knew I would not be able to get up again as darkness closed in on my vision. 

* * *

I woke up in my chambers with a lingering headache and the Prince sitting beside my bed. My back was sore from being slammed into walls and the water, and my chest ached with deep breaths, most likely from being hit with the door. Since the Prince was with me and not the Avatar I assumed we had lost him, but I couldn’t be sure without asking. Perhaps he was here to scold me for failing, I did ruin his chances on going home. His eyes landed on my open ones and for a moment neither of us said anything. Then he looked away again like he always did when talking to me. I looked away to the painting of my parents, they would be disappointed in me. Most likely they would have punished me, but the guilty feeling was punishment enough for me.

“You’re awake,” he stated the obvious for whatever reason. I sat up a bit and tried not to sigh.

“Where’s the Avatar?” He bristled at my question but answered nevertheless. 

“He escaped in the attack last night along with his companions,” for some reason he didn’t sound as angry as I imagined. I wondered how many times the boy had escaped the Princes grasp before.

“I failed my Prince, I am truly sorry--” he cut me off with a raised hand. He had completely turned away from me, probably too furious to look.

“You and your crew were the first ready to die to help me, today we were closer than ever to capturing the Avatar for good… why were you so ready Commander?” I didn’t understand his questions or his intentions. 

“I will always be ready to die for my orders, I will give anything to accomplish my mission.”

“But I’m not--” he cut himself off there and stood up in a rage. 

“My Prince?” 

“We’re heading off to search again, thanks for your help,” with that he was out of my room and once again I was left alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought below, I'd love to hear it :3


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